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The poor hard working actors of the North East.

Prepare to think I’m an asshole.

… So I see a lot of people I know, actors primarily, saying please keep Beowulf going. Please renew for a season two. Please start a campaign page, spread the word, share this, link that, etc. I’ve bit my tongue. But I’ll throw a penny in the fountain of opinion.

It’s pretty sad. How desperate we are North Easterners are that we latch onto any single production which has put any time into our little part of the world. I can imagine a few actors I know hosting parties, watching the episodes recorded on their Sky TV boxes and pointing at the screen “there!” every 1.2 seconds they appear in the background as a guard. Most of these people appeared as day players, extras but they act like they were integral parts of the production because they were there, it happened and it happened here.

The North East desperately needs this! They cry.

No, it doesn’t. Bullshit like this sets the North East back even further. All the North East was used for is its lush country and cheap extras. Even its lead actor – who is actually from Hartlepoole, was living in LA when he was cast! You have to get out of here – even to come back!

The show was an unoriginal cheap production which aimed to take a stab at bigger fish it couldn’t begin to latch onto. It tried to be the sexless, violence free Game of Thrones – because as one pointless exec said: “What about the kids who can’t watch Game of Thrones because of its sex and violence?” I’m sorry but they made that show it was called paint drying.

But typical of England, the production values vary dramatically department by department. The sets and locations look great. The lighting is great. Some of the acting is alright. But the direction is very poor. There is no atmosphere. No mood. The writing is poor. The effects are crude. Sci-fi channel syndication here we go. But part of that is England’s unwillingness to spend money to make money. Game of Thrones season one cost over $60 million. Big risk. But big reward. Beowulf was around a third of that. Hardly any actors worth note. And adapting one of the oldest epic songs of all time is the laziest jumping off point yet.

Didn’t learn from Robert Zemeckis’ movie? Or the one with Christopher Lambert? Or the one a couple of years later?

I don’t want to be harsh because there are genuinely lovely people in the North East who just want to be seen for their acting and they deserve screen time. They deserve original productions. They deserve to be more than background characters. They deserve better than bullshit. They are so passionate in trying to save this TV show – Just in case they can stand in the background for a few more days. This is dedication and that’s heart breaking to me.

Yeah, me and my team are trying to bring projects for the North East to life by building buildings from grains of salt, but this is not a self dick suck in disguise as we push that boulder, for months at a time its like we get nowhere, then we get somewhere, then nowhere again. We’re fighting, but we’re not alone. There are a ton of independent production teams in the North East all trying to make their break. Some want to break free, and some want to big up the area.

We’re all after the same thing, to live our dreams and turn those dreams into careers. Same as these actors who sat around in the cold in Durham for days at a time to appear in the background eating a radish for 3 seconds of episode 2: Gathering of the turnips.

There is serious talent in the North East. We need more support, we need more money and we need more press. These collective boroughs are more than just a great listing in a location scouts book.

So to put it quite bluntly. Fuck Beowulf. So long and thanks for all the fish. Let’s make some shit to put it to shame. Who is with me?